fordrive

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fradrībaną“to drive away, drive out, expel”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fradrīban
3. Old English · inherited fromfordrīfan“to drive, sweep away, drive on, impel, compel, drive away, expel, overtax”
4. Middle English · inherited fromfordriven
5. English todayfordrive

From Middle English fordriven, from Old English fordrīfan (“to drive, sweep away, drive on, impel, compel, drive away, expel, overtax”), from Proto-West Germanic *fradrīban, from Proto-Germanic *fradrībaną (“to drive away, drive out, expel”), equivalent to for- + drive. Cognate with West Frisian fordriuwe, ferdriuwe (“to expel”), Dutch verdrijven (“to expel”), German Low German verdrieven (“to drive away”), German vertreiben (“to expel, drive out, banish”), Danish fordrive (“to oust, expel”), Swedish fördriva (“to drive away, drive out, banish”).